My boss had an IS350 and complained about the wheel spin. He always put some sandbags in the trunk for better traction. He said it helped.
A trick I learned a long time ago was to pull on the hand brake to equalize the drive wheels. I don’t know if the 350 has limited slip, but if not, if you have a hand brake you can slowly increase the pressure and eventually you’ll reach a spot where both wheels are turning. Don’t forget to release the hand brake when you get rolling. (Works with a foot brake too, but not as easily.)
I chose the Michelin X-Ice tires. I had requested the Blizzaks in 18" but The rims were out of stock and I wouldn’t get them before March. I went with the 17" option instead and got them installed on Monday. I’m very satisfied with the result.
The BEST RWD vehicle I ever owned with the BEST snow tires (studs) was good…but not as good as ANY 4wd vehicle I’ve owned with even marginal all-season tires.
I stated control. I agree on moving though 4wd(all-seasons) > RWD/winters
Control means stopping and turning, 4wd does nothing except keep a vehicle going straight under power. 4wd, AWD, FWD, RWD etc cornering and stopping is all in the tires in winter conditions.
That solution is straightforward and logical, which means it was immediately rejected by my wife.
Her view was that she wanted me to have my independence so I could come and go without having to carpool on the bad weather days. Which sounds fine until I add the detail that with the snow tires on my car she now prefers to drive my car. That is, now her preference is that we carpool in my car to the train station and she drives way in my car to go to work. In conclusion, my independence isn’t her overriding concern, but I am content as long as she is safer on the icy roads.
It doesn’t have a handbrake, brut that is a good trick for older cars. The IS350 has a pedal operated foot brake, so it doesn’t really have the sensitivity it takes to do that trick.
My supposed ‘performance’ tires are wearing out pretty fast. I’m probably going to have to replace at least two of them soon because one has damage – apparently from hitting a pothole. I could understand if I clipped a curb, but a pothole? (oy!) Anyway, I’m going to replace the OEM tires with some good all-season tires and would like recommendations. I remember reading about some brand of tire that included both summer tread and winter tread so it wasn’t necessary to switch the wheels in the winter. Any recommendations?
@Spark, tread is only part of what makes a tire a winter tire. Winter tires use a different rubber compund-- softer and grippier, but wears much faster on hot pavement.
A good all-season choice for you would be the Continental ExtremeContact DWS. I’m not generally a fan of their tires, but put a set of these on my wife’s Maxima and have been happy with them. I use dedicated summer and winter tires on my car.
Snow tires are better in snow then summer or all season. RWD really benefit from snow tires.
HOWEVER…DC gets very very little snow…Maybe 10" a year. There’s absolutely no need for a AWD vehicle.
If you’re having a lot of trouble driving in snow…then either
A) You’re driving improperly in snow.
B) You need to get snow tires.
C) Both A and B.
I’ve seen many people move to NY or NH from the south and haven’t a clue on how to drive in snow. The second their tires start to spin…they floor it thinking that the fast the tires are spinning the better traction they’re going to get. They key to driving in snow is taking it slow and easy. And if you do put snow tires on the car…it doesn’t mean you can now drive like the pavement is dry…You still need to develop skills in driving in snow. You still need to take it slow…80% of driving in snow is HOW you drive…20% is equipment.
@MikeinNH
That is not the problem here. I learned to drive in New England too, but then moved to the DC area. They don’t get snow here as much as icing. The conditions are not what you think–just getting enough forward momentum to get out of the parking space is next to impossible with the OEM tires Most of what you’re describing is utterly basic bad weather driving advice.
Not that it isn’t all completely true–but it doesn’t help with this situation.
Mike does not own a vehicle with higher performance oriented all-seasons and likely has not. The need for winter tires increases with these higher performance vehicles drastically. I have owned a series of performance oriented vehicles and run the gammet of tires on them.
Part of the compromise of higher or ultra high performance ALL-season tires is winter traction.
Notable exceptions are Continental ExtremeContact DWS and Nokian WR G2’s. However of course they give up some dry summer traction in order to get reasonable winter traction. However both offer incredible wet traction.
Also snow tires are not equal winter tires on their best day. But the term is used interchangably. However if someone’s experience stems from a tire termed “snow tire” then their advice is about 20 yrs old.
Mike does not own a vehicle with higher performance oriented all-seasons and likely has not
And you’d be wrong…I haven’t in many years…but I have in the past.
Performance vehicles (mainly RWD) vehicles…most would benefit greatly from snow tires…In fact any vehicle will benefit from snow tires…but it’s still a question of do you actually need them. This vehicle may because it seems that any bit of snow is stopping it. Most vehicles in the DC area do NOT need snows. If they get over 10" of snow a year it’s a LOT…So the days DC get’s snow (which would be very very few)…just stay home.